"Garcia, you're coming along with us on this case. Wheel's up in 30" Emily Prentiss said at the end of their meeting to discuss their newest case.

"I love going wheels up" Garcia responded

"You just like the jet" teased Luke

"Maybe, but also since I don't travel as much as you guys, I don't mind it as much, it's a nice change of pace" Penelope couldn't help but be excited to go along with everyone, completely aside from the whole private jet.

After a long, tiring day the team was finally able to check into their hotel. It was already 10pm, and Prentiss instructed everyone to be ready to go at 7:30am the next morning.

Penelope was tired, but she was also a night owl. She was used to staying up late, and she might still have to go into the office early, but she could usually take a nap on the couch in her office, however out in the field this was much more difficult to do. So she tried to go to sleep right away, she put on her PJs, she brushed her teeth, washed her face, organized her outfit for tomorrow, but no matter what she tried she couldn't get to sleep. The later the clock got, the more she tried to go to sleep, and the more awake she felt.

That's when she noticed these soft cries coming from the next room. It sounded kind of like someone was being quietly tortured, which makes no sense, she thought. She knew one of her teammates was in that room, but it took her a minute to remember which one. Luke. Penelope was torn, knowing it was Luke, it seemed likely these sounds might be coming from a nightmare, she knew he dealt with PTSD some, but since it was Luke she also felt the least comfortable about visiting him in the middle of the night. If it was anyone else, she wouldn't feel awkward, but with Luke there was all sorts of uncomfortableness going on there. Then she heard what she was sure was crying, and she couldn't stand it anymore, the awkwardness she'd just have to deal with.

She put on a sweatshirt because the tank top she had one wasn't very modest. She knew her cotton PJ sorts were pretty short but didn't care enough to change those. She went out into into the hallway and walked over to his door, knocking on it.

No answer

She knocked again a little louder this time, "go away Garcia" she heard in what sounded like a whisper. "No" she said, knocking again.

Finally, the door opened up and she held back a gasp when she saw Luke. He was a total mess. He'd definitely been crying and he looked like he hadn't slept for days. She knew that her making a fuss over him was not what he needed right now. So instead she walked into his hotel room, shutting the door behind her, and then just took his hand and led him back to the bed. She sat down on the side of the bed, he sat down next to her.

"If you want to talk, I'm here. If you don't want to, I'll sit next to you in silence."

He didn't say anything, but he squeezed her hand. They sat there in silence for the longest time. Every once in a while, he would squeeze her hand, or she rubbed his back with her hand, at one point they were sitting on the bed shoulders leaning against each other. Eventually, he moved back the covers and got back into the bed

"Sleep next to me?" he asked pitifully.

"Sure" she said, getting into the bed next to him. It took a while of Luke silently staring at Garcia, but eventually he fell asleep, his arm and her arm being the only parts of their bodies touching, with his hand on top of hers, but that was comforting to him.

When she woke up the next morning, Garcia was confused for a moment. This room looked like her room, but everything was backwards. What is wrong with me? she thought, till she realized she wasn't in her hotel room, she was in a hotel room with a mirror layout. That's also when she noticed Luke sleeping next to her. Did we have sex? she didn't think so, but why was she in his bed? That's when she remembered hearing Luke crying and moaning, and how they just sat there in silence for a long time, before he asked her to sleep next to him. Oh, poor Luke, He didn't deserve to be haunted by whatever it was that was bothering him, but she as glad she could offer him some comfort.

She noticed it was getting late, it was almost 7 and they had to be ready to go at 7:30. She sat up, which caused Luke to stir.

"What time is it?"

"Almost 7"

"mmm" he said, burying his face back into his pillow.

"I'm going to go back to my room and get ready, will you get up or do I need to set some kind of alarm?"

"No, I'll be fine, I'm up" he said, getting up and sitting on the bed.

"Penelope?"

"Thank you"

She nodded at him, before going back to her room. She was so busy thinking about last night that she didn't notice Rossi going back into his room after getting coffee. But Rossi noticed Penelope going from Luke's room to her own room at 7am, in her PJs.

They all met up downstairs and headed out to the precinct, Luke noticed Rossi smiling at him but didn't understand why.

Day 2 was easier than day 1, because there was a fair amount of down time, but they were frustratingly not making much progress on this case. They had to essentially wait until the unsub dropped another body. At 7pm they called it a night, and all went out for dinner, and by 9pm they were all going back to their rooms.

Penelope was trying to read Luke to see if he wanted her to come over again, but she couldn't tell. So, she went back to her room, and after she got ready for bed again, she texted Luke.

If you want me to come over, just let me know.

Can I come over to your room instead?

Of course

She smiled as she replied, and a few minutes later she heard a knock on the door, answering it to see a sheepish looking Luke standing there in shorts and an Army t-shirt. She motioned for him to come in, and they both sat down on her bed.

"I feel like I should explain…" Luke started, not really sure what he was going to say

"It's OK, you don't have to if you don't want to"

"I've dealt with nightmares ever since I got back from Iraq, but it kind of comes and goes in waves how often or how bad. It got worse after Phil got hurt by Daniel Cullen, but it had gotten better for the last couple years. Lately it's been bad though, I'm not exactly sure why"

I'm sorry you have to deal with this"

"It helped a lot to have you there, that was the best sleep I've gotten in weeks" he admitted.

They sat in silence for a while, then quietly talking about random things, like Reid's latest obsession with maps, when Penelope finally asked the question she'd been wanting to since yesterday

"Luke, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course"

"What were you crying about last night? It seemed like more than a nightmare"

"It was just a bad one. I have this reoccurring nightmare about a buddy of mine who was killed in Iraq. We were tossing around a football, enjoying a nice, rare day off, when he stepped on an IED and was gone" he explained, Garcia gasped but didn't say anything.

"He was only 22, and he was really talented, He and his wife had just had a baby, he was so proud of being a dad, he had such a future and then poof, it was gone." he added, "and then it also could have just as easily been me. if I'd stepped just a few more inches to the right earlier I would have triggered it" he added, "I feel guilty sometimes, wondering why him and not me? Sometimes I can't help thinking the world would be better off if it had been me" she squeezed his hand "most of the time I wake up from the nightmare of reliving that moment, and It's like I lost him all over again"

"What was his name?" Penelope asked softly, as a couple tears ran down her cheek, he wiped them away with his thumb before answering her.

"Scott"

"Scott" she repeated, she couldn't think of anything really to say in response, so she just said, "I'm sorry" and she pulled his arm around her tighter, they just sat there for a while.

Later after finishing getting ready for bed, she pulled back the covers and started to get into the bed on one side, and he did the same on the other. She was too far away though, so Luke struck out his arm, and Penelope scooted over till she was lying next to him, with her head just underneath his arm, and he placed his other arm across her hip.

Next thing she knew, he was asleep. She smiled, and soon drifted off to sleep herself.